Clarkson in Gilas lineup
The Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas has included the names of NBA player Jordan Clarkson of the Los Angeles Lakers and PBA reigning two-time MVP June Mar Fajardo in the 24-man lineup submitted to FIBA intended for the Asian Championship on Sept. 23 to Oct. 3 in Changsha, China.
Butch Antonio, SBP deputy executive director for International affairs, clarified that it has been customary for international federations to submit 24 names a month before a FIBA-sanctioned tournament.
“It has been a practice, we submit as many names,” said Antonio yesterday. “The reason why we’re doing this is at least you don’t miss out on the possibilities of these players suddenly becoming available. It’s like covering whatever bases we need to cover because you never know.”
Antonio added that “although we have our national team training pool, we still named players who are not attending the practice sessions. This is not the first time we did this – naming 24 players to the roster. We put names that are not even on the training pool.”
Named to the 24-man roster currently in the training pool are naturalized Filipino Andray Blatche, Jimmy Alapag, Gabe Norwood, Sonny Thoss, Calvin Abueva, JC Intal, Aldrech Ramos, Marc Pingris, Jayson Williams, Troy Rosario, Matt Ganuelas, Ross del de Ocampo, Moala Tautuaa, Asi Taulava and Terrence Romeo.
The other players named to the lineup are Fajardo, Marcio Lassiter, Paul Lee (Dalistan), LA Tenorio, amateur stalwarts Bobby Ray Parks, Jr. and Kiefer Ravena, and Clarkson.
The lineup was submitted last Sunday by SBP executive director Sonny Barrios.
In the lineup form, the SBP declared that 23 players are Philippine Passport holders, while the 6-foot-5 Clarkson has dual citizenship as he carries both Philippine and US passports.
Clarkson arrived Monday night from the United States start working with giant telecommunications company Smart Communications, Inc. as an endorser of its products and services.
The incoming NBA sophomore will also attend as ‘observer’ in the Gilas Pilipinas practice sessions starting tonight at the Meralco gym in Ortigas, Pasig City to be familiar with the system of coach Tab Baldwin in the event he gets clearance from FIBA.
Antonio reiterated what Barrios said the other day regarding the letter that the association sent to FIBA seeking clarification with regards to the status of Clarkson, whose mother, Annette, is from Angeles, Pampanga and who holds a Philippine passport even before he turned 16 years old.
“We’ve been doing the paperwork at SBP, we already wrote FIBA regarding clarification on the eligibility of Jordan Clarkson. I don’t think it’s too late, we just have to make sure everything is covered,” said Antonio.
“The good thing about this is that all parties are happy because of Clarkson’s willingness to play for the national team, for his desire to play for flag and country,” added Antonio.
On the other hand, the deadline for submission of the final 12-man roster of the national team for the Asian championship is Sept. 8, and Antonio said the SBP is hoping to get a reply from FIBA as soon as possible.
“If we can get it by then (before the deadline), why not? So we’ll see,” said Antonio.
Gilas Pilipinas is in Group B of the FIBA Asia Championship with Hong Kong, Palestine and Kuwait. The winner of the said event will represent the region in the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
The national team will leave for Taiwan Friday for the William Jones Cup scheduled Aug. 29 to Sept. 6, which is part of Baldwin’s program to prepare the squad for FIBA Asia.